will people steal starfruit?

[Julie]

I just got a Kary starfruit and I'm deciding where to plant it.  I have one spot right next to the road in the easement.  Will people steal starfruit or are few interested in it?  I guess if I have a bounty and a passerby takes one fruit it's not a big deal, I'm more worried about the people who take all your fruit to sell.  Of these trees which would be the best to plant right by the road:
- Kary starfruit
- younghans white sapote
- cochin jackfruit

this is also a smaller spot, maybe cochin jackfruit would be better since it's a dwarf tree?  Kary starfruit I can buy locally as well, cochin jackfruit I cannot, so I'm leaning towards putting the jackfruit in the back since it's more precious

[TropicalFruitHunters]

Some people will steal anything at all.

[W.]

Some people will steal anything at all.

I couldn't agree more.

[Sevastopol]

The one fruit tree I plan to plant in my front yard is starfruit. Never seen anyone slam on their breaks and run out to get a starfruit they just spotted.

[Julie]

I know guys, but I feel like it's still worth it to plant every spot in my yard even though some might get stolen.  I should change the title to "what fruit are least likely to get stolen"

I'm actually really lucky that my "Juicy Julie" (lol) jackfruit and a tonnage avocado (OMG, I know) have not been robbed of fruit yet and they are near the road, but they only had a few fruit and weren't loaded.  It's actually not that easy to see the fruit on them if you're driving by.

[Coconut Cream]

The fruit is orange and is so abundant you can't avoid letting it fall on the ground. People will definitely stop and take some, so if you like sharing then the roadside is a good spot.

For stealth I would go for something less obvious like Hipolito Caimito which stays kind of olive green, or maybe Black Sapote which is also a dull green color. Neither tree or fruit is very recognizable unless you are a member in a rare fruit council. White Sapote could work too.

[Julie]

It’s true, starfruit is a less desirable fruit for most compared to mango, avocado, mamey and coconut. But it’s abundant and the color stands out a lot, which is not ideal

[Galatians522]

Starfruit is a good one for the front yard in my opinion. They fruit so abundantly that by the time it is mature you will start thanking the people who stop to steal the fruit. 😆

[Julie]

On the other hand, you don’t want to eat an unlimited amount of starfruit because it’s bad for your kidneys. And I wouldn’t freeze it either. Does anyone know if eating one to two starfruit a day has a cumulative effect or is it just eating a lot in one sitting?

[Julie]

Starfruit is a good one for the front yard in my opinion. They fruit so abundantly that by the time it is mature you will start thanking the people who stop to steal the fruit. 😆

I’m glad you replied i know you read the studies (I’m literally eating my 5
Homegrown custard apples without fear 😂). If you know the answer to my above question let me know!

[Galatians522]

I know there was some discussion on the forum about starfruit and the two main toxins that it contains: Oxalate and Caramboxin. The second one I had to look up because I could not remember the name. I also looked at a case study from Asia where a man was treated for over consumption of sour starfruit juice which he was using as a home remedy to treat his diabetes and high blood pressure (both of those diseases contribute to poor kidney health by the way). My quick summary is this. Eat zero star fruit if you have kidney problems. Never eat sour varieties (they have about 10 times the Oxalate content). Eat the fruit with other food (not on an empty stomach). Don't make juice. I have no kidney problems and frequently eat 1 or 2 a day when they are in season. I usually cut the ridges off because someone mentioned that was the part of the fruit with the highest Oxalate content.

[Galatians522]

To put everything in perspective, the guy in the study drank the juice from approximately 2.2lbs of sour starfruit which has about 10x the Oxalate content of the sweet varieties that we have here. To get that much Oxalate you would need to consume 20 lbs of sweet starfruit. That would be between 60-80 fruits in my calculations. Eating one a day during a month long season should be pretty safe for anyone with normal kidney function.

[Julie]

Ok great!  Isn't the season longer than 2 months though? Anyway, it seems I'm good to eat 1-2 a day.  I have not gotten any test but I don't have a reason to think my kidneys are messed up.  Being able to eat fruit is my motivation to take care of myself better so I don't get diabetes.

[Julian R]

Some people will steal anything at all.

Love it when people steal my worm infested guavas out front 

[gnappi]

People will steal anything not locked up. Where you want to plant it I think you will get to enjoy fewer fruit than if you plant it somewhere protected and away from passersby.
 

[Julie]

I'll try planting it there.  I can always buy Kary starfruit locally if I need to.  If it turns out to be a nightmare I can get rid of it.  It may not be a forever tree.  Space is limited at this point

[MasOlas]

I'm a kidney stone factory. Thanks for this topic on Oxalates.

[Julie]

sorry you are dealing with this

do you think kidney stones are actually caused by oxalates?  like if you eat more oxalate containing foods it increases kidney stones?  I've never had a kidney stone and eat tons of foods that have oxalate in them (anecdotal of course).  I guess all plants especially leafy greens have oxalates (the healthiest foods)

[Galatians522]

My Dad got a kidney stone once from drinking too much juiced greens (too much of a good thing). So, yes high Oxalate consumption can promote kidney stones. Interestingly enough, a friend  who used to have regular kidney stones was told to drink crystal light lemonade everyday by his doctor--he has not had one since doing this. Apparently, citric acid helps to keep kidney stones from forming. Ironically, sour citrus is also a part of the diet in every country where starfruit is consumed in quantity to my knowledge.

[Julie]

Citric acid also is bad for your teeth though.  Once I found out about this I started being more careful to use lime/lemon juice in moderation.  Like I used to put 3-4 limes in my salad dressing but now I use 1/2 - 1 and use water for the rest of the liquid.  Eating juiced anything can cause issues for sure, it's much better to eat the fruit/veggie in its natural state so that it has the fiber and makes it less concentrated.

[Rob From Sydney]

When I was at the dentist earlier this year he was telling me about someone who came in saying that he got sensitive teeth over winter, and I was told the reason was because he had an orange orchard and didn't want to waste the fruit!

[Rob From Sydney]

Starfruit is a good one for the front yard in my opinion. They fruit so abundantly that by the time it is mature you will start thanking the people who stop to steal the fruit. 😆

I’m glad you replied i know you read the studies (I’m literally eating my 5
Homegrown custard apples without fear 😂). If you know the answer to my above question let me know!

I remember reading an older thread about annonacin and how Atemoya, Cherimoya, and Sugar Apple are very, very mild but soursops and pawpaw had quite a bit, and the seeds were full of annonacin.


On what to plant I reckon Coconut Cream is onto it, but I reckon Grummichama is good too as it is a bushy bush and there will be fruit for you on one side, and fruit for passers by on the other, if they even know it is edible. Also + Panama berry, it produces so much fruit and there are always more ripening so people taking some would not cause a problem.

[Julie]

Thank you Rob, I'm pretty sure I will plant the tree there.  If it turns out to be a huge mistake I can take it out.  I can buy Kary starfruit locally that are very good, so it's not the end of the world I guess..

[Julie]

When I was at the dentist earlier this year he was telling me about someone who came in saying that he got sensitive teeth over winter, and I was told the reason was because he had an orange orchard and didn't want to waste the fruit!

I didn't even know this until recently.  I have sensitive teeth but it may not be due to eating citrus, I'm just a very sensitive person overall.  Now I'm much more cautious with citrus.  I'm not completely eliminating it because they can be part of a healthy diet, just using less in my salad dressings, etc.

[endemic2earth]

Enjoy the citrus just rinse out your mouth as soon as youʻre done consuming. Eating all fruits in their whole form and not juicing them is the safest/best. That said Iʻll always be squeezing (juicing) a lime over fresh fish or into a coconut for an ultimate thirst quencher.